Adoption
by HoopBanana
Summary: Elizabeth Swann always was too nosy for her own good. So when she finds a letter confirming she is not Governor Swann's daughter, she sets off to search for her birth father, with the help of the one and only Captain Jack Sparrow...COMPLETE!
1. Curiosity Killed The Swann

Adoption

Chapter 1: Curiosity Killed The Swann

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pirates of the Caribbean.**

**Note: This is set after AWE.**

Elizabeth Swann always was too nosy for her own good.

Life in Port Royal can be very boring. Especially when you are in disgrace for franchising with pirates. She felt like a small child, grounded from playing out with her friends for being caught kissing boys behind the dustbins.

There wasn't much to do; especially now her father had passed away. She was avoiding cleaning out his office, for she was scared of what she might find in there. The maids were good playmates when she was little, but their gossip disinterested her now she had experienced the unmatchable excitement of pirate adventures.

Every nook and cranny of her house she had explored years ago. Except, that was, her fathers' office.

I can't, she would think, every time she found her hand reaching out towards the polished brass door handle. Sometimes it took hours to persuade herself not to go in, and sometimes the maids would wonder what she was doing.

She would tell herself she needed to clean out sometime; she wasn't going to live forever and then who would do it? Then she wondered why she was scared, there was nothing in there that could possibly be that bad, was there?

Eventually she realized there was going to be no talking herself out of it, and besides what harm could it do?

So she cautiously opened the door and slipped inside.

"Right," said to herself, casting her eyes around the dusty room. "This can go," she tipped an old lantern off a wooden trestle table into a waiting box on the floor. "And this, and…" She soon lost herself in her cleaning. A few things she wanted to keep, such as old family paintings and heirlooms. Some letters seemed significant, so she kept those too.

"Another from Commodore Norrington, and another…" she tailed off as she leafed through the letters she had found in the top drawer of her fathers' desk. "Mothers' death certificate…" it saddened her to see this and tucked the envelope into the inside pocket of her coat. Then she smiled as she saw something she knew she was bound to come across sooner or later. An envelope with her name and birthday on it. "My birth certificate." She smiled and opened the envelope. It was however, not her birth certificate, but an – "Adoption certificate?" she gasped as her eyes scanned the page. "No, never… father always said I had my mothers' eyes…" she said, still disbelieving. "My father." She said viciously, slamming the letter down on the desk and searching through the others for some evidence that would back up this.

Then she found it. And she could not deny it.

She was not Elizabeth Swann.

_14__th__ of December 1821_

_Dear Governor Swann,_

_I am very sorry to tell you your wife, Alice Clara Swann, has been diagnosed with infertility. Of course you know this means she will never be able to have children. I am sorry to be the bearer of such bad news._

_Yours sympathetically,_

_Dr. Thomas R. Adams._

"Who am I?" she asked herself, staring at the letter in shock. This was never a question she intended to ask herself; yesterday she would have said she was Elizabeth Swann, thank you very much. But now… now that meant nothing.

Elizabeth knew what she must do. Putting the letter on the desk with a determined look on her face, she raced out of the house, barking at the maids not to disturb anything in her fathers' room. They knew, of course, they had not been in that room since before he died.

Elizabeth raced down the streets of Port Royal, the public gasping and bouncing out of the way in horror at the sight of her swords. She paid no mind to them; however, she was out to see one person and one person only.

"Adams!" she yelled as she banged on the door of the old doctors' house. "Doctor Adams! Open this door now!"

"Doctor Adams?" came the frail old voice of the man inside. "No one's called me doctor in ages! I've been retired fifteen years!"

"Of course," she said, ceasing her assault on the door.

He opened the door slowly. A small, the bespectacled man stood there. "Ah! Is it the young Miss Swann who has come to visit me today? What a pleasure it is!"

"I would love to spend some time with you, Mr Adams, but I need to know…"

"Need to know what, my dear?"

"Is it true?"

"Is what true? I don't think I've ever lied to you, my dear."

"About my mother."

His face paled and his smile disappeared. "I think you'd better come in, dear…" He held the door open wide and gestured for her to enter. She stepped in graciously.

It was an old house; stone and cold like many of the houses in Port Royal. Yet this one had a sense of luxury about it, a rustic grandeur, if you will. She had no time to take in any more about her surroundings, as the old man had led her into a chair and was now offering her ginger biscuits.

A tag-peg rug sat in the middle of the living room floor, brightening up the cobblestone floor with its bright reds and greens. A large wood fireplace was up against one wall, giving warm life and a golden glow to everything around it.

"There is a lot I could tell you about Alice, Elizabeth…" the old man began, giving up on trying to feed her ginger biscuits and eating them himself. "Much of it your father didn't want you to know."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes when he was looking away to pour himself some tea. A lot of help he was turning out to be.

"I'm guessing you found the letter when clearing out his room," he continued. "I was expecting to hear from you a lot earlier. What took you so long to clear out?" Then he looked at her with a knowing glint in his old chocolate eye. "Wanting to hang on, eh?" he winked. "Now, as I was saying…now what was I saying?"

"A lot of things you could tell me about Alice?" she pressed.

"Ah, yes! Alice! Well, as I'm sure you know she was diagnosed with infertility at a rather early age."

"Before I was born," said Elizabeth, nodding.

"…Yes. And that is where the complications start."

"So you're telling me what I thought when I first saw that adoption certificate?"

"Yes. Governor Swann and Alice Swann are not your real parents."

Considering this is what Elizabeth first thought when she saw the two documents, hearing from someone else had really make the shock hit home. She didn't want to believe it, all of a sudden. "But – but – my mother! She died in childbirth!"

The old physician shook his head, his white forelocks falling in his eyes. "Alice Swann died of pneumonia. She spent too long out walking on the headland one night with Governor Swann."

"I can't believe this!" she stormed, getting up off her wicker chair and pacing the cobbled floor.

The retired doctor looked slightly worried at her attitude. "Miss Swann I think you should leave," he said cautiously, showing her still the amount of respect he thought she deserved. Elizabeth nodded and silently left the house.

She didn't quite know what to do after that. She knew what she had to do, in time, but she didn't know how to start. She knew she must find her real parents, at the very least, her father. But she had no idea how.

For this she seemed to take a slightly Jack Sparrow-esque view on this: Go home and sleep on it. So she did just that. The maids gave her puzzled looks at her state of distress. She changed into bedclothes and went to bed.

She didn't sleep until well after midnight and yet awoke at the crack of dawn. Shouts, gunfire and a raucous half-drunken laughter could be heard out on the streets. She went to her window and saw from her high viewpoint some sort of calamity going on at the docks, involving swinging pillars and all sorts.

_Look's like Jack's in the right place at the right time_, she thought, as she reached for her coat and slowly made her way out of the house.

* * *

**Well, what do you think? This is an idea that has been bothering me for a while and I wanted to write it. I have a distinct plotline n my head and know exactly what is going to happen, which is a first with my fanfiction. Please review and let me know how I am doing, and Scrasun if you read this, please don't make any pointless stupid reviews like you did on Peace & Quiet, it messed up my reviews page!**

**Thanks,**

**HoopBanana.**


	2. As These Adventures Often Begin

Adoption

Chapter 2: As These Adventures Often Begin

"…Yer filthy, mangy, sewer-rat wiggies!" called Captain Jack Sparrow as he was led down the streets of Port Royal towards the jail by two stony-faced soldiers. His 'brilliant' escape plan had been foiled once again, and now it was all he could do to yell abuse at his captors.

"Stop!" demanded Elizabeth Swann, marching down the street towards them in nothing but a cotton nightgown and her black corduroy jacket. "Unhand him!" The soldiers looked rather surprised at her state of undress.

"Lieutenant…" one of them began unsurely.

"Miss Swann," said the Lieutenant Gillette, surprise not absent from his voice as he surveyed the young woman in her bedclothes. "What can I do for you?"

"You can let him go," she pointed at Jack.

Lieutenant Gillette laughed. "You know why I can't do that."

"And I know why you can." She pulled the letter and certificate out of her inside pocket and handed them to him.

She watched his expressions change as his eyes scanned the papers. "Yes. I think we have good reason to let him go. You are trying to solve this mystery, yes?"

She nodded. Lieutenant Gillette waved a hand and Jack was released. They walked away.

"Thank you Lizzie," said Jack, staggering towards her and rubbing his wrists. "Though from that look on your face I doubt you had me released from the love in your heart."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at him. "Don't call me Lizzie. It's Elizabeth or Miss Swann. And no, I do have a task for you to help me with. An errand, if you will. Well, actually, it's more like a quest."

"A quest, you say?" Jack rubbed his goatee thoughtfully. "Hmm. Been a long time since I've had a decent adventure. I'm up for it."

"You don't have any choice. I set you free. Pirates' honour and all that."

"Aye," said Jack, rubbing his goatee some more. Elizabeth began to walk back to her house. Jack followed her.

"So what's the nature of this venture of ours?" he asked as they walked together. Elizabeth took a deep breath and told him her story.

"Wow." Said Jack when she had finished. "So good old Swanny's been lying to you all your life? No wonder he always looked so nervous."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and sighed at him once more. "So what's your story? How did you wind up in Port Royal looking for sympathy?"

He glared at her and batted her softly with his hat, which he had taken off to fan himself from the intense heat. "That's not true! I was not looking for sympathy!"

"If you say so," said Elizabeth.

"Well, if you must know, good old Hector Barbossa ganged his crew up against me and dumped me on some island. Hung about there for a few days, then saw some kid in a dingy rowing around, obviously lost as hell. Said I'd give him a farthing if he could take me to Port Royal. He said where's that. I said I'd show him and he'd be better off there than in the middle of the ocean for sure. He said he was trying to get to Cuba. I said Cuba! That's miles away! He said he'd take me to Port Royal if I showed him the way. Then he could catch a galleon to Cuba and be reunited with his mother or whatever."

"And did he get there all right?" Elizabeth asked worriedly.

"I don't know, do I?" yelled Jack. "I was too busy trying to save my ass from the bloody Navy to be bothered about some orphan!"

"You don't care much for emotional family stories, do you?"

Jack grinned. "Not unless they involve shooting and girls."

Elizabeth sighed. She should have expected as much from Jack.

They reached Elizabeth's house. She showed Jack to a guest room, ignoring the frightened glances he was getting from her maids. She knew he was harmless, even if he didn't.

* * *

Elizabeth woke early next morning. She ate quickly and had something prepared for Jack. She banged on his door loudly. No answer. After five minutes of this, she got bored and barged right into his room and shook him from his rum-induced sleep.

"What? What? What? Where's the fire?" asked Jack as he sprang up into a sitting position.

"Nowhere, just thought we'd be getting an early start today," she said defiantly.

"And what do you propose we do?" asked Jack, fixing her with a look, obviously unhappy to have been awoken so early.

"Well you're Captain Jack Sparrow, as you continuously point out, I assumed you'd have a plan!"

A smile graced his face as his mood instantly changed at the mention of his name. "Right you are, love." He saluted her. "And so we must begin our adventure as these adventures often begin: By commandeering a ship."

Her face brightened and then paled in the space of less than two seconds. "Commandeering… a ship?"

"Why yes, there is no other way we could sail the seas in search for your father."

"Who says he's out at sea? Maybe he's on this very island, how are we to know?"

He gave her another look. "I don't think you would have requested the services of a pirate had you really believed that. You just don't want to steal from the Navy, do you?"

This was true, but she didn't want to admit it. "Let's just go," she said gruffly.

Not much time later, Jack and she walked down the streets of Port Royal, Jack cleverly disguised as a woman.

"I'm going to kill you for this," he grunted through gritted teeth, holding up the skirts of the light lilac dress as he attempted to walk in five-inch heels. Elizabeth trotted along beside him happily, smiling at the discomfort and humiliation of her companion. She had thoroughly enjoyed removing all of Jack's hair decorations (which she now carried in a bag, along with his clothes) and brushing it until it could be called straight, which had proved exceedingly painful for Jack ("Oww, Lizzie, you're hurting! You're pulling my head off! Oww!") Which made it all the more fun for Elizabeth.

He had a navy scarf tied around his neck to hide his beard from any passer-by. He was gasping in a way that betrayed the fact that his corset was troubling him. She stood close to him in case the corset would affect him in such a way that he would faint.

They made slow progress to the docks, Jack's unnaturally hairy legs attracting rather strange looks from passers-by.

"I'll be glad when this is over," he puffed, and then stumbled as his heel caught on a drain.

Eventually they reached their destination. Elizabeth helped Jack to climb aboard a ship before he kicked off his shoes and began to help getting the ship ready to leave.

"Oi! What are you doing there?" came a voice from the dock. Elizabeth looked down over the side of the ship at two portly men, staring up at her and shielding their eyes from the sun.

"Why, I am just admiring this fine ship," she said, in her most ladylike voice.

"Who's up there with you?"

Jack appeared at her side, flapping a fan in front of his face coyly.

"Why, that's just my friend Jacqueline Rook."

"Well, ok then, Miss Swann."

"Be off with you, then."

The men returned to their duties.

"Phew, that was a close one," said Jack in his normal voice, tearing a rather stupid bonnet off his head and chucking it overboard. "Shall we do it, then?"

A few minutes later, and no one had any idea there were two people trying to commandeer the _Silver Storm_, let alone a fake noblewoman and an unconvincing transvestite pirate.

"All right!" he called victoriously as the ship finally started to move away from the docks.

"Oi!" shouted one of the soldiers, running to the edge of the dock and firing. Jack ducked from behind the wheel.

Lieutenant Gillette raced to the scene. "SPARROW!" he yelled as he saw the strangely dressed pirate laughing at the helm of his Navy ship, which was rapidly gaining speed and leaving port. Then he noticed Elizabeth, stood on the side of the ship with a rather – what's the word – firm look upon her face.

"Cease fire," he said softly. "Miss Swann and Mr. Sparrow have good reason to leave port with our ship." He lowered his head and retreated to the fort, his soldiers following confusedly behind.

The quest had begun.

* * *

**Woo! Chapter 2! Please review, it motivates me a lot! I have lots of fun writing this, but your reviews spur me on!**

**Oh, yeah, and Happy Friday, ya Pirates. ;)**

**Hoopy.**


	3. Business As Usual

Adoption

Chapter 3: Business As Usual

It was business as usual in Tortuga. Wenches, rum, and fighting. Elizabeth could tell from Jack's face he longed to join in with the Tortugan spirit, but he knew as well as she did they were on a mission. And now they needed to find a crew.

It wasn't easy. Mr. Gibbs and the rest of Jack's 'usual' crew were off with Barbossa on the _Pearl_, so that ruled them out. Jack had even gone so far as to say they might have to take on women to be in the crew. Elizabeth didn't mind though.

Eventually they came up with a half-decent crew, after dragging round to every pub in Tortuga and asking anyone who would listen, and even some who wouldn't.

They assembled on the _Silver Storm_. Most were fresh looking, anticipating adventurous pirates.

The _Silver Storm_ made slow progress out of Tortuga.

"So Jack, where do you propose we start?" she asked as Tortuga drifted out of sight.

"I don't know," Jack replied.

"Neither do I," she said. "Cuba, Shipwreck Cove, Singapore?"

Jack shrugged. "Your call, love." He began to walk off, but turned around when he was about five feet away. "But we may be needin' a little witchcraft on our side, and so a visit to a witch may be of use." He then left her with her thoughts.

"Cuba," she said later as she approached Jack who was steering at the helm.

"All right," he said and called to the crew of their new destination. The crew called back and saluted. Jack smiled. "So enthusiastic."

Then a thought occurred to her. What if she had brothers or sisters? She had been an only child, or so she had thought, but maybe she did? The closest things to sisters she had ever had were her maids, and that wasn't very close. She retreated into her thoughts again.

"The strangely tense atmosphere around you tells me you are troubled." Elizabeth looked up and saw Jack standing before her, blocking the sun, slightly silhouetted, a banana in one hand, a bottle of rum in the other. Elizabeth plopped down onto a barrel. Jack joined her.

"Watch it, I just made those this morning!" cried the cooper, Molly. Then, when she saw who it was she apologized quickly, tipped her hat and was on her way.

"I was just thinking, how much I don't know…" she stared past the hip of Jenny, the carpenter, over the side of the ship and off into the sunset on the horizon.

Jack looked at her expression and offered her the rum bottle. She took it and took a swig.

"Everything seems better when under the influence of rum," Jack stated. Elizabeth nodded. It couldn't be denied.

The sun slowly sank deeper into the horizon until it was fully gone, leaving nothing but an eerie lilac glow behind it.

Darkness fell quickly after that. Lanterns were lit all over the deck, and candles below, giving the ship a slightly romantic glow, especially with its neat Navy paintwork. Jack gave her the task of embroidering a pirate flag, just in case they should ever be in battle. And also it is not a good idea to be sailing under false colours on these waters.

Jack held a party to celebrate the crews' first night aboard the _Silver Storm_. Rum was drunk, and dancing and singing done. Elizabeth did not feel in the mood to dance, and just sat on her barrel and watched the festivities and tried to look happy.

But apparently she wasn't fooling anyone, especially not Jack. He had known Elizabeth long enough to recognise when she was upset, and now was one of these times. He took a seat next to her. She gave him an acknowledging look before returning to staring into space.

"Are you all right, love?" he asked her, trying to sound sympathetic.

"Yes," she replied. "The rum helped."

"The rum always helps." Said Jack truthfully, taking a swig from his own bottle.

An awkward silence fell between them. He left to dance with the attractive Jenny.

Elizabeth watched and felt her heart flutter momentarily with jealousy. But now was not the time for lustful thinking of Jack Sparrow, she decided.

Jack had collapsed onto the rum-soaked deck after whirling around a little too enthusiastically when he was approached by Arthur, one of the gunners, who stood next to him.

"Your ladyfriend doesn't seem too happy," he noticed.

Jack should have told him Elizabeth was not his ladyfriend, but at this time of night and that amount of rum in his belly, he actually kind of liked the idea.

"Aye," he said. "She doesn't."

"You know, Captain," said Arthur, uncertainty not absent in his English accent. "You haven't exactly told us what the nature of this 'venture is yet."

"Ah," said Jack, for this was true. "Well, you see my ladyfriend, as you put it, over there," he gestured to her. Arthur nodded. "Well she's recently discovered that her parents are not her parents." Arthur looked confused, but nodded. "And we are out to find out who her real parents are."

"Ah, I see," said Arthur. "And you didn't tell us this because you thought if we knew we wouldn't accept to come aboard here?"

"No," said Jack, although the thought had occurred to him. "It wasn't any of my business to tell you. It's Miss Swann's family issues, no one else's."

"What's the profit for us?" asked Arthur. Jack knew he was now speaking on behalf of the whole crew.

"Well, I expect," said Jack, gesturing flamboyantly with his hands, "That someone who has produced such a pure-bred pirate such as her must be making a pretty penny, and would offer a fair reward just to be reunited with her." Then, seeing the look of doubt on his face. "If not, than we can always do some honest plunderin'."

Arthur smiled; glad to be promised with some good pirating.

Suddenly all heads turned towards Elizabeth as she got up abruptly and marched off to her cabin. The crew turned to each other, shrugged, and then got back to their jovialities.

Elizabeth had grown tired of being stuck in depressing thoughts, and decided to sleep to take her mind off things, even though she knew when she woke up she would have a pounding headache from the rum. She retired to her cabin for the night.

* * *

**YAY! Happy New Year everyone! To all my wonderful friends: I love you! And to everyone who reviewed: THANKS A BUNDLE!**

**Please review. It makes my day.**


	4. Upriver

Adoption

Adoption

Chapter 4: Upriver

Two weeks passed. For the crew, they were two weeks of glorious sunshine, amazing food (courtesy of the cook, Mary) and rewarding work under a fair captain. For Elizabeth, they were two dreary weeks of lounging around in a hammock, knowing she should really be enjoying her time at sea but not being able to escape the pressing matters on her mind.

It was kind of like being cursed. The food didn't _literally_ turn to ash in her mouth, but she did find it harder to enjoy the food. She even found it hard to laugh when Jack's antics caused an accident of the most embarrassing nature to either himself or one of his crew. In the end she took to staying in her room, contemplating her situation and trying to come up with some answers, but ending up with more questions. Why didn't her family keep her? Who _were_ they? Why are they going to Tia Dalma's if she quite obviously expanded at the battle of Shipwreck Cove and will not be there?

Meanwhile, while she was pondering her history, Jack Sparrow was stood up at the helm with a firm look of concentration on his face. Anyone would have said he was fully focused on steering his ship, but behind that mask his brain was going into overdrive. He was worried about Elizabeth.

True, this was the woman that had kissed him and left him to die, but also she had saved him from the law countless times, and now he was helping her solve her own mystery, which is something he enjoyed very much, and since he owed it to her to help her out, he also figured he should be worried about her if something was wrong.

Of course, a discovery such as this would be very traumatic to anyone, even himself, thought Jack, but it has affected Elizabeth so much that she eats only an orange and a disc of hardtack a day and spends all her time lounging about hopelessly, and it's kind of starting to affect _his_ frame of mind as well, which was not good.

Everyone was thankful to arrive at the Cuban islands at last. It gave Elizabeth something new to think about and Jack was able to think of all the possible treasures he could find hidden in that probably abandoned shack.

Soon they were travelling upriver in boats. Jack was at the front of the foremost boat, keeping a watch. Elizabeth was sat behind him, and two crewmembers rowed. Elizabeth was reminiscing on the last time she had visited this place. It was shortly after Jack's death and everyone was feeling sorry for themselves, most of all Elizabeth, who knew she was responsible for said pirate's demise. Barbossa had surprised everyone by making his return, with a promise to guide them all to get Jack back. Of course, everyone had been so thrilled with this news they hadn't stopped to think. Barbossa hated Jack, why would he go to great lengths to get him back to the land of the living? Elizabeth was the only one who contemplated this, and arrived at the answer that Barbossa wanted the _Black Pearl_. This theory was gashed of course when Barbossa revealed his plan of the meeting of the pirate lords.

Many hours later, the crew of the _Silver Storm _arrived at the hovel that was previously inhabited by the voodoo queen Tia Dalma. Strangely enough, it looked exactly as it had the last time they visited; the decking was cleanly swept and every lantern lit; come to think of it, it was actually in better condition!

Jack was the first to venture a knock on the door. It was old and warped, and looked as if it would fall down on you if you knocked a little too hard. This, of course, didn't faze Captain Jack Sparrow.

"Hello?" he called.

No answer.

He slowly pushed the door. It creaked open.

There were still many glass jars filled with strange things hung from the ceiling, still a central square table with mystical charts and crab claws on it, an empty cage which had once contained the troublesome monkey, and a beaded divide from behind which a golden bright light was coming.

A voice floated from behind it and a shadow appeared. The voice was smooth as honey and probably just as sweet. It clearly belonged to a young woman.

(AN: I'm sorry about this, my Spanish is really bad.)

"_Ella mira abajo,_

_Encima en del cielo,_

_Ella mira abajo en m__í,_

_Ella mira abajo,_

_Sobre el mundo,_

_Todo que ella ve."_

"What is that?" whispered Elizabeth.

"Spanish," replied Jack. "It appears someone else has taken charge of Tia Dalma's hut."

Then the divide parted, and a girl stepped through.

She was in her early twenties; she had chocolate skin and even darker eyes of ebony. She had short hair that was braided with brightly coloured beads of yellow, red and green woven into the ends, and she was the spitting image of Tia Dalma.

She stared at them in fear, surprise and shock for a moment.

"Who are you?" she breathed.

Jack, charismatic as ever, lurched forward to shake her hand. "Captain Jack Sparrow, at your service, and this is Elizabeth Swann," he gestured to Elizabeth, who nodded. "And these are my men." More respectful nods. "And you are?"

"Estelle," she said softly, still a little scared. "I'm Calypso's daughter."

"I know," said Jack, toning it down a little on the bouncy meter. "You are identical to your mother, I must say. Brilliant woman, she was."

"You talk about her like she's dead," Estelle's ebony eyes flashed with a little anger as she pushed past Jack and placed down the basket she was holding on the table. "She's not dead, she's still up there, watching." She raised her eyes to heaven for a second before reached for a contained made of wood. She lifted the lid off and white steam billowed everywhere, clouding Jack's vision of her for a moment. At first the most suspicious of the crew thought she had pulled a trick on them, but then the vapour cleared and they could see clearly again. Estelle could be seen taking rocks out of the wooden container. The rocks were steaming so they must have been hot, but Estelle obviously couldn't feel the heat through the calloused skin on her hands. She laid out the wet laundry from the basket on the table and placed the hot stones on top to dry them.

"Yes, it's in your song," said Jack. "_Ella mira abajo en m__í, _she watches down on me."

"You speak Spanish?" she looked surprised.

Jack nodded.

Estelle started babbling away in her native language. Elizabeth and most of the crew look perplexed. Jack noticed this and said, "But for the benefit of my friends, can we keep the conversation English."

"Yes, of course," Estelle nodded. "Now what is it you want of me?"

Jack explained their situation.

"Now, Mr. Sparrow-" Estelle began after hearing their story.

"Captain," corrected Jack.

"Of course, I am quite new to this whole magic thing, so I cannot say what I advise will be perfect, but…"

Elizabeth was hardly paying attention anymore as she noticed a crystal ball on the table behind Estelle. It was swirling in many different shades of orange. An image formed. A man was getting beaten up by many drunken pirate youths. He had very striking cocoa eyes and gently curling brown hair. Features that were so familiar to Elizabeth…

"Come on, we must go!" she yelled as she grabbed Jack's wrist and started to push past the crew, down the steps to the boats.

"Estelle, come with me!" shouted Jack back to the young witch.

"Why?" she asked.

"We might need you!"

"Okay!"

The girl hurried down the steps with a white shawl around her shoulders, her brown and green skirts billowing around her. Jack lifted her up by her waist and put her in the boat beside him. Elizabeth felt a twinge of jealousy at their contact, but put the thought out of her mind.

"Elizabeth! What's the hurry?" asked Jack as the crew started to row frantically away from the cabin.

"The crystal ball, I…"

"What did you see? What did you see?" Jack's voice was getting more and more frenzied as the panicked crew, who obviously thought they were in danger of attack, vigorously paddled them closer and closer to the shoreline, and the ship.

"Elizabeth, you have got to tell us what you saw!" Insisted Estelle.

"I saw a man, he looked like me, he was getting attacked by a group of drunks…" she explained.

"Where was it? Any ideas?" Jack interrogated.

"I don't know, but there was a coat of arms on a wall in the back ground…"

"A coat of arms? What did it look like?"

"It had a skull and crossbones on it…"

"Shipwreck Cove!" was the last thing she heard before it all became too much and she blacked out.

**Wow! I'm really glad with the way this turned out. I hope you all like my new character, Estelle. I hope you don't think less of me because og her name, but I actually looked on a special website for Cuban names and I was torn between Estelle and Maria. I like Estelle better, but Maria Dalma has a very nice ring to it.**

**Any road, please review and keep reading!**

**Hoopy.**


	5. Search

Adoption

Chapter 5: Search

In the time it took them to get to Shipwreck Cove, Jack and Estelle had grown remarkably closer. Elizabeth liked to think that their whispered conversations together at the helm were strictly business-related, but deep down inside of her she knew they weren't. She hated herself for being so envious of their newfound intimacy. She knew she loved Will, but it was perfectly normal to have a little crush on someone else, wasn't it? Anyway, nothing could or would ever happen between her and Jack. She didn't really want it to.

She wasn't afraid to deny that the entire crew's devotion to Estelle had become a little annoying. As the governor's daughter, and the stunner she was, she was used to getting a lot of attention (although it did make it difficult to blend into the background) and didn't really mind it at all. Being noticeable was often essential to getting what she wanted.

So she was feeling quite irritated that suddenly she wasn't the centre of attention anymore, but she allowed herself to get used to it and move on.

She spent a lot of time with the females of the crew, particularly the sisters Pearly and Julie, who had the sparkling sense of humour that, among other things, makes the Tortugan girls so famous.

Getting into Shipwreck Cove was a long and boring procedure, involving many identity checks and interviews (which seemed more like interrogations to Elizabeth) to make sure that nobody was a spy from the Navy. Elizabeth thought the whole thing rather ridiculous, especially since Jack captained the ship and he was smart enough to sniff out any intruders.

Eventually, they passed all the security checks and the big thick wooden gates opened and they sailed through.

"Why did that take so long?" Elizabeth asked Jack.

"They are automatically suspicious of any Navy ship, even if it be in control of pirates, lest there be stowaways aboard."

It seemed fair enough, but the process still seemed very drawn-out to Elizabeth.

The first time she had visited Shipwreck Cove, she had thought it to be a strange place. Now, on her second visit, it seemed even stranger! Jack was adamant that nothing had changed, but Elizabeth disagreed. Perhaps this was because the first time she visited she had been so busy with business that she didn't have much time to take things in, but now she had returned she had to look closely among the civilians and the culture of Shipwreck Cove to search diligently for the man she believed to be her father.

The enormity of that humungous task still depressed her, but before she could give it any more thought something happened that made her almost wet herself with laughter.

As they moored the ship in the docks, Jack was spotted by some old acquaintances. They were young boys of around ten years old, and on first sight of Jack they cried, "Look! It's Cap'n Teaguey's boy! Jackie!" And they proceeded to throw rotten tomatoes at him.

Jack, shielding himself from the airborne fruit, yelled, "What? Why are you doing this?"

"Ya mother's last request! Didn't get to see ya the last time you were in port! She said if you're not married to a lass by the next time I saw ya I was to pelt ya with something, and you know what they say happens to those who don't obey the last request, and I'm a terrible one for suspicion, me." The kid didn't stop bombarding Jack with the festering missiles until he had run out of them.

"Why, ye little-" began Jack, until he remembered who that offspring belonged to. John Davis was the most powerful retired captain in all of Shipwreck Cove, besides his own father, of course. Insulting his young was perhaps not the wisest thing to do, so Jack contented himself with giving them the eye-roll that adults often do at young children to make them think they know something the kids don't, and Thomas Davis ran off into the depths of the city.

"So, to Captain Teague's office!" Cried Henry cheerily. The prospect of a short break on land has certainly put the crew in good spirits, thought Jack.

The gangplank was lowered and the captain led the expedition off into Jack's hometown of Shipwreck Cove.

Of course, it wasn't necessary for the whole of the crew to accompany them to see Captain Teague, so just Jack, Elizabeth, Estelle and Henry, the first mate, went.

When they arrived Captain Teague was in the middle of shouting at someone in his office. It was probably audible halfway across the city, so there was no hope of the flimsy wall and the beaded curtain (Teague preferred them to doors, as doors were "too fussy" in his opinion) insulating the sound.

The timid weedy receptionist, who was probably only there because Teague had taken pity on him and saved him from being press-ganged into harsh servitude aboard a pirate ship, looked like he very much wished they'd go away and come back later when Teague's burst of rage was over, to save him having to enter the room and interrupt the captain's ranting to tell him that he had guests.

Elizabeth felt compassion for the boy, and, by the look on her face, so did Estelle, and they were for returning in a few hours, but Jack was having none of it. If Teague was going to shout at them for coming at an inconvenient time, let him! It was nothing he hadn't endured in his mischief-filled childhood.

The receptionist grimaced at the ladies sadly, and poked his head around the curtain. "Captain, there are-"

"GEORGE! CAN'T YOU SEE I'M TRYING TO – TRYING TO – _CONVERSE _WITH THIS MAN? CAN IT WAIT?" The captain's fury would surely have curdled Elizabeth's blood had it been directed at her, but it appeared little nervous George was a lot braver than he looked.

He took a deep breath. "No, it can't, sir. It's your son."

There was a long silence in which the atmosphere in the room intensified. The temperature seemed to rise almost to boiling point, but then the anger in the air was gone.

"My son?" The captain now sounded congenial. "Well, why didn't you say so? Send him in! Mr. Miller, you can go."

The man Captain Teague had been shouting at left the room, with a gloomy grimace on his face, but other than that he seemed unharmed by the situation, and so had got off scot-free with a good ticking off from the captain.

George waved the company in through the sparkly divide into the captain's personal office with a flourish.

Teague surveyed the group over his desk. George was making a hasty exit before anything else could be said, but not fast enough.

"George! Why didn't you tell me he brought friends?" The captain's voice was more amused than annoyed now, but George failed to pick up on this. He jumped and mentally slapped himself on the forehead for forgetting to mention such a fact, but Teague saved him from further humiliation by saying, "Never mind. Doesn't make much difference, anyway."

George escaped before Teague could think of more ways to embarrass him.

"So, Jacky, and your…friends, whose names escape me-" He began, but Jack barged in.

"This is Elizabeth, and-"

"Of course, I remember Elizabeth! But who is the strapping young man and this lovely young lady I see before me?" Teague was looking at Estelle.

"Ah! You always were good at spotting rare gems, Dad. This is Estelle Dalma, and she is helping us on our little…shall we say…quest." Jack pulled Estelle toward him and put his arm around her waist as he spoke. Elizabeth's eyebrows twitched with a green stab of jealousy, but again, she ignored it.

"Henry Read, pleased to meet you sir," said Henry, but Teague didn't give him a second thought.

"Estelle _Dalma_, do you say?" Teague contemplated Estelle with renewed interest. Elizabeth and Mr. Gibbs made elaborate exaggerated gestures at him, signing desperately for him not to bring up the subject of the young witch's past.

But it was too late. Estelle launched into her life story, while Henry and Elizabeth moaned silently. Jack tried his best to fix a platonic smile on his face, but it was obvious that even he had tired of this tale.

Finally, after ten minutes and much pins and needles on Elizabeth and Henry's part (who had been standing up the whole time, while Jack and Estelle took the two comfy leather chairs in front of Captain Teague's desk), Estelle's account of her life drew to a close.

"…And that's when they asked me to help them."

"Thank you for that _thrilling _autobiography, Estelle," said Captain Teague, using just the right degree of sarcasm so that Henry and Elizabeth could snicker impolitely but Estelle was none the wiser. Jack shot a stony look at the giggling parties and they immediately shut up.

Captain Teague continued, "Can we get to my point of why you're here?"

"Ah! Yes!" Jack sprang out of his chair and began pacing around the room, as he always did when thinking of the right thing to say at a crucial moment. Henry and Elizabeth dashed for the vacated chair, yearning to ease their overworked legs. Elizabeth got there first with her nimble young limbs, and Henry was left to curse under his breath.

Jack went on, "Elizabeth here has been having family problems. We're here to sort them out."

Elizabeth was silently grateful to Jack for keeping all the details of her predicament secret from his father, but Teague was instantly suspicious, as any good father should be when his son was being vague with him.

"And that needs you four, _and _a crew?" Teague raised one eyebrow as he spoke.

"Yes." Said Jack, trying to sound confident and trustworthy, but he was wringing his hands as he talked, so Teague was even more convinced that there was more below the surface.

"Do I get to know the fine points of these _problems_?"

"No."

"As if I couldn't guess. Elizabeth is looking for her real father."

Everyone gasped and gawped at Teague, open-mouthed.

"Shut yer gobs, you lot, you look like a bunch of toads," said Teague brusquely.

"H-how did you know?" asked Elizabeth, in a state of shock. She looked at Estelle as if for an answer, but the young witch was as clueless as she was.

"Oh, come on! I'm not a fool!" Teague was now up out of his chair and pacing around, like Jack had just moments before. Like father, like son, thought Henry, smiling a secret smile to himself despite the oddity of the situation.

Jack was now stood by the wall, staring at his father like a dead fish, his eyes glassy and unresponsive. His father had pulled some tricks in his time, but this had taken the biscuit!

"Old Weatherby Swann, no offence, could not have created a sublime pirate such as yourself, and plus, you've got good looks!" Teague laughed uproariously as he continued to march around his office.

"Everyone said I got my looks from my mother," said Elizabeth quietly, allowing a strand of honey-coloured hair to fall in front of her face to hide the sadness of her expression.

"Your mother? With all due respect, Elizabeth, Alice Swann was not anything to write home about!" Teague chuckled again, but he quickly silenced himself when he realized what he had said.

"And how would _you _know?" Jack's voice was icy, intolerant.

Teague looked down at his feet and shuffled about. "We…er…crossed paths a few times, that's all."

Elizabeth knew that was pirate-speak for "had a good romp with when I was in port" and felt rather disgusted. Jack fired her an apologetic look.

Elizabeth stood up. "I think we'll be going now," she said, shooting the others a look that said if they didn't follow her she would kill them, but they had barely reached the door when a boy of about three years old belted through the trinket-covered curtain (a string of glass marble-like beads hit Jack square in the face and he reeled backwards, clutching his eye) and ran into the room, making a beeline for Teague and jumping straight into his arms.

Everyone was so surprised that they were silent for a few moments.

It was Teague who spoke first, snuggling the infant into his body. "Hey, Little Cannonball!" The child wrapped his arms around the wrinkling captain's neck and Teague gave him a big hug. Elizabeth looked on in disgust; those were the arms that had once held her "mother" in an illicit affair. She felt a huge surge of sympathy for her adoptive father. Had he known? She would never find out.

It was only when she looked properly at the tot that she noticed. The boy had flaxen hair that was so soft and shiny it looked like silk, and the biggest hazel eyes she had ever seen, except for in the mirror every morning.

Elizabeth had the exact same eyes as this mystery boy.

"Captain Teague, who is this boy?" Elizabeth gestured to the wriggling infant, who was now wrestling with Jack's father.

"This," said Teague, still battling with the child, "Is Joseph Moore, and he bites really hard."

Teague obviously thought Elizabeth was just asking out of interest, but with the others the penny was dropping. Estelle, Henry and Jack were obviously noticing the resemblance too.

Elizabeth stared at the child, searching his face for any further likenesses. Joseph noticed and decided he didn't like it.

"Teaguey, who is this lady?" asked the boy, pointing a pudgy finger at Elizabeth.

"Her name is Elizabeth Swann," said Teague.

"I don't like her," said Joseph, and then he did the unexpected. He jumped away from Teague and ran.

Even more unexpected was Elizabeth's reaction to this. She had to know more about the boy. She chased him out of Teague's office, around all the cobblestone streets and eventually to his house, predictably, as little boys often do.

The boy hadn't even knocked on the door before it was flung open by a man with gravy-coloured hair and her eyes again. He scooped the infant up into his arms and looked at Elizabeth. "Aw, Joe, you haven't been stealing fruit again, have you?"

"My name is Elizabeth Swann," Elizabeth introduced herself.

"Oh." Said the man. "I knew this day would come. I think you'd better come in."

* * *

**Ooooh, drama. Don't get too excited, now. More to come! Reviews are very welcome!**


	6. There Are Stories

Adoption

Chapter 6: There Are Stories

Elizabeth sat in that run-down hovel of a house, staring thoughtfully into the bottom of her now empty eighth cup of tea.

The man, who she had discovered was called David Moore (and also was her uncle), was explaining why she had come to be adopted by Governor Swann.

"You see, my dear sister Sarah was not in a good way at the time. She had recently been fired from her job as a nursery maid at the big manor house at the top of the road. The Taylor's, they call them." Elizabeth was moved by the amount of compassion in his voice. There was something irresistibly soothing about him, but he also had the aura of a man who was not to be trifled with. Even the seemingly untameable young Joseph had fallen for his soft voice, and now lay docile in his lap, dozing.

"She was a nursery maid?" Elizabeth inquired.

"Aye, she always did love children." David nodded.

"Then why did she give me away?" Elizabeth couldn't hide the hurt in her voice.

"She didn't give you away, far from it," her uncle said as if the idea appalled him. "Money was thin on the ground and we didn't think we'd be able to give you the quality of life you deserve."

"Why was she fired?" Elizabeth asked.

"She was accused of witchcraft," her uncle said with more than a little sadness. "She was lucky to escape the noose."

Elizabeth's face was agast. "Whatever for?"

"She was charged with bewitching the Taylor boy, Jacob, he's called." David shook his head as if he still couldn't quite believe the ridiculous injustice himself.

"_Bewitching _him? How?" Elizabeth's voice rose with incredulity. The sleeping infant stirred in her uncle's lap.

"_Sssh,_" David whispered to the child, stroking his flaxen locks gently. Joseph sighed and settled back down in his father's arms. "She was having…let's say…_relations _with the lad. The only was she was able to postpone her hanging was because she fell pregnant, and they say there ain't no greater sin than sending an innocent unborn child to its death."

"But you said she escaped the noose!" Elizabeth was indignant.

"Temporarily," her uncle said, remaining calm. He was about to explain further when his son shuffled in his arms again.

"Is that lady still here?" The adorable boy asked, without even bothering to open his eyes to see for himself.

"Yes," he said. "Cousin Elizabeth is still here."

Elizabeth smiled at the word cousin. It seemed so nice to be related to someone after such a long period of loneliness.

The youngster soon dozed off again. David continued, "After you were born, Sarah was carted off to the gallows-"

Elizabeth shuddered. It sounded even more horrible put like that.

"And your father didn't feel he could look after you properly." Her uncle paused, inhaling deeply. Elizabeth looked at him expectantly. "I tell a lie. Your father loved you genuinely. His family threatened to disown him if he did not send you away, and those were hard times. It was difficult to find work, and even more difficult to get paid for it. He would probably have been killed at sea in the battles against the Spaniards had he not put you up for adoption. There were a good ten years between your mother and myself, so I was barely more than a lad myself at the time, and could barely take care of myself, so I was definitely not ready to take care of a baby."

Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief. Even though she resented very much being deceived by her adoptive father, she would ave resented even more being responsible for her birth father's death. "So where is he now?"

David shrugged as best he could with his arms around his son. "That's the thing," he said vaguely. "No one knows. The Taylor family went bankrupt about five years back, and last he was seen fleeing the house when the bailiffs knocked down the door then."

"So he could be anywhere," Elizabeth buried her head in her hands. She was basically back at square one again.

"Perhaps," Her uncle apparently had more tricks up his sleeve. "But there are stories."

The three magic words of piracy. _There are stories. _Elizabeth leaned forwards in interest, her attention caught by the promise of a good tale.

Meanwhile, Jack strolled the streets of Shipwreck Cove aimlessly after being ejected from his father's office by an irritated Captain Teague. Henry had disappeared into a tavern owned by a wench that he would rather avoid and Estelle had disappeared. He now searched for the young witch, who he had taken quite a liking to these past few weeks on the ship. She was very demanding and high-maintenance, but as long as he kept her happy, she was a very charming young lady. He was now looking for her to see if he could invite her for a drink and see if the rum could get her to let her hair down a little…

He nipped into a nearby tavern to see if he couldn't get himself a little bottleful to whet his throat, when he spotted her.

She wasn't alone, however.

Situated at the table furthest out of the action and hustle and bustle of Shipwreck Cove, she sat cozied up to none other than George Anderson, the timid clerk from his father's office.

Afraid his anger might make him do something he'd regret later, he left without even waiting for the rum he had paid for to be delivered and went to a more secluded part of the island to storm about in frustration.

Elizabeth wasn't feeling any less furious than Jack at that moment. "He is an employee of _Beckett_?" She was almost shouting in her disbelief.

"_Elizabeth_!" Her uncle scolded her. She slapped a hand to her mouth in guilt as her cousin whimpered.

David glared at her.

"But he could have been one of those killed in the battle? Heaven knows, _I _could have killed him!" She was panicking now.

Her uncle shook his head fervently. "No, no, no, Elizabeth," he said forcefully. "He was – _is _and employee of the East India Trading Company, not Beckett."

"Same thing!" Elizabeth squeaked.

"No, it isn't," David told her. "And besides, he was never a fighter. I once saw him in a brawl with a mugger in the street. He would have been floored too if it wasn't for my intervention. No, I believe he'd be employed as military intelligence."

"A _spy_? But that's just as dangerous!" Elizabeth voice was high-pitched and panicky.

"Not a spy," Her uncle continued. "Like, someone who got out and about, on the streets, hearing the gossip and talking to all the right people and sorting fact from fiction. That's the kind of thing I can see him doing."

"But how can I find him?" Elizabeth wanted to get to the point.

"Now that is another story…" David gave a wry smile.

**I'm ending it here, but look forward to sequel. I believe it will be a bit more action-filled than this!**


End file.
